The Neighbor Across the Street
by KatieKatx3
Summary: When Elena moves back to Mystic Falls after her parent's death, she's surprised that there's someone living in the house across from hers'. But even more so that her bedroom window faces directly into someone else's! DxE all Human.
1. Chapter 1

Mystic Falls: A place I once called home

My parents, little brother, and I used to live together in this mysterious little town, but tragic struck when I was seventeen, my parents died in a horrible car accident.

From that time on, I packd up my bags for the sunniest of places, starting out in Florida, then moving onto Utah, and then finally settling in California. California was so beautiful, with its heart rushing thrills when you thought you might spot a celebrity out shopping, or opening your back patio door to a beach. Not to mention, it's the exact opposite of small town of Mystic Falls. Between the massive amounts of old fashioned themed shops and small story themed homes, I doubted if I would ever get to see a random celebrity sighting here.

Okay, so _technically_ I don't have the right to complain. After all, I didn't move back to this quiet little town for anyone's reasons but my own. I wasn't forced into this decision. In fact, Amber, my best friend in California, had done her best to talk me out of it. But, of course, my mind was made up, and there was no changing it. I was going to move in with my brother Jeremy, and let Amber and California behind. The decision hurt, but it was made already regardless.

Not exactly having the wealthiest income, I didn't have many belongings to take with me. Just my carry-on and one additional piece of luggage. I let Jeremy carry the heavier one to his car when he picked me up from the airport.

Jeremy was working at a little place called The Grill, and he seemed content with his position of waiting tables, even if he barely said anything about it. He was generally a quiet guy, and we hadn't seen each other in years, therefore he kept mostly to himself. I didn't mind this about him in the slightest; I was the same way. I knew that this living situation would work out well.

We made awkward conversation in the car, both of us not really knowing what to say to each other. We even stooped to discussing the weather, but that didn't last very long, of course.

An hour and a half later, we were pulling up to the house where I was born. It's a beautiful old house. It has two stories and it's kind of dingy… the white paint outside was rather grey looking and the overgrown tree that grew on the right side of the house was taking over and completely covered one of my bedroom windows. But that didn't matter. My favorite spot was still visible. The side window. Where I could sit and relax on the giant window seat that was made for gazing.

I think that the window was what made the otherwise ugly house look so beautiful in my eyes.

And I knew that that window would serve as my escape whenever life in Mystic Falls would become too much to handle. That window would be my savior.

It took me a while to realize that Jeremy had already gotten out of the car. I looked over my shoulder to see him pulling my belongings out from the back seat. He glanced at his watch and down the street.

"Jer?" I followed his gaze down the street. "What are you waiting for?"

"Oh no one…" he began.

But then he was cut off by a small silver honda turning into the driveway. I couldn't see who was drivingit at first, but I followed Jeremy's lead when he hurried out of the car to greet whoever it was that arrived in it.

I was surprised to see that it was a girl about my age, early twentys, with long curly black hair. Her round brown eyes caught mine and and I almost instantly recognized her.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy greeted her enthusiastically, which seemed a little too chipper for just friendsip . "I was hoping you'd stop by."

"Well of course I'd drop in. I wouldn't want to miss Elena's first day back in town."

I just stood there for a second trying to decipher what to do, before Bonnie threw the driver's door open and climbing out. She flashed me a bright smile and extended her arms for an awkward hug. "It's so good to see you."

I hugged her back, not really sure of what to say. Bonnie used to be my best friend here in Mystic Falls. Pretty much since kindergarten. When my parents died, I blocked everyone in this town out of my life including Bonnie, which was now making me feel like I'd been washed with guilt.

"Hey Elena, Bonnie still talks about you all the time and all the great times you guys had together when you were younger." Jeremy added in, breaking the awkwardness.

"So you've missed me?" I asked, hoping to get rid of the guilt I was feeling.

"Yes of course I did!" She beamed at me.

I took a sigh of relief. "That's good. I've missed you too."

"At least she says she missed you," Jeremy said, "She didn't even say that to me yet." I looked over to him and he was smiling.

I shook my head, returning him an uneasy smile. "Of course I missed you Jer."

"Hey, Bonnie, you wanna come in for awhile and hang out?" Jeremy asked her. He was all too happy to have Bonnie over and seemed to like her a lot. I never remembered Jeremy and Bonnie being _this_ friendly before I left Mystic Falls. We never really paid much attention to Jeremy when we were younger. He was always known as my little annoying brother.

"I don't know," she said, looking over at me. "Do you mind? I know you just got here and probably want to unpack and stuff…"

"I don't mind. I can unpack any time. But to do that, I'll need my stuff," I added, looking at Jeremy, who had decided to leave all my things in the car once he saw Bonnie.

"Oh right!" he said, digging his keys back out of his pocket as he walked back to grab my things. Bonnie offered to help carry my carry on, but of course Jeremy refused.

The house across the street caught my eye as I closed the back door behind Jeremy. I had never really noticed it before now. In the driveway were two incredible cars. A red 1962 Porsche and light blue 1967 Chevy Camaro. Who could possibly being driving those type of cars around town, and living across from me. "Jer, who lives in that house across the street?"

"The Salvatores." He answered simply as he disppeared through the front door. I paused on the front porch to stare at it some more.

"They live just outside town, really, but Salvatore Manor is into restoration and all that, so they're always remodeling the house, and when that happens, they stay there." Bonnie added.

"Oh," was all I said. I was still looking at the house. It was a pale blue color, and was in much better shape than I expected it to be. I didn't even remember it ever being there. But now that there _was_ someone there, I noticed what I hadn't paid attention to before.

The house wasn't directing face-to-face with ours, like most houses would be. The tree on the left side of our yard blocked Jeremy's room from sight, as the house was over to the right, so that only the far left side was actually in front of our house, one bay window facing directly into my window seat. The light wasn't on in that room.

"So are you glad to be home," Bonnie began, trying to break the awkward silence that I had let fall during my thinking, "or...back?" She bit her lower lip after the word 'home'.

"Yeah I suppose." I tried to break free of my thoughts.

Jeremy returned outside to join us, "So who's hungry?"

We all went inside the house, enjoyed pizza that Jeremy ordered, laughed and had a good time. I hadn't realized how much I had missed over the years. Eventually, we realized how late it had gotten, and it was time for Bonie to go. Both her and Jeremy gave me a hug before walking outside to her car. I guess Jeremy and Bonnie were seeing each other since he walked her out, but I guess I'd worry about that later.

After I had waved them off, I headed upstairs to unpack. After I put my clothes in the proper dresser drawers or the closet, and straightened my bed out, I took the opportunity to look around my room.

Not much had changed since I left, which was a good thing. As my attention turned to the window seat, I noticed that a light had gone on in the room facing mine.

There was someone walking around in that room. I didn't see any distinguishing features, because the light was shining from behind them, turning the person into a shadow. After a moment, I realized that the someone was a boy: I still couldn't see the face, but I saw the short hair, broad shoulders, and flat chest.

I tried my best not to look, but I couldn't take my eyes away for long. It seemed that the person was getting ready for bed. He was putting things onto his bed. I forced myself to go to the window and try to close the curtains, but I realized there were no curtains there at all. So my arms were raised motionless in the air.

The person across from me noticed the movement and he paused with his shirt halfway off. I also stood motionless, just staring over at the person whose face I couldn't see. After a minute, he seemed to regain his composure and tossed his shirt across the room. He walked closer to the window and waved at me. It took me a moment to get over my shock and wave back. He leaned forward as if he wanted to open his window and shout something to me, and I panicked and hurried stepped to the side, hiding myself against the wall, out of his line of sight.

Great. If I can see that much of him, then he could see the same with me. Probably more, because my light cancelled out the whole shadow thing. I'd have to remember to change my clothes out of view from the window.

I looked around the small room. It was practically impossible, unless I did it pressed against the wall like I was now. Seems like the closet or the bathroom will have to do.

_I really need to invest in some curtains first thing tomorrow morning,_ I thought to myself as I gathered my night clothes and headed for the bathroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews I recieved, the story alerts, author alerts, and favorite stories added. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

I was roused from sleep the next morning by a rumbling engine. Looking over at the clock on my bedside table, I saw that it was only roughly ten minutes before the time I had set the alarm for anyway, so I wasn't too upset about being woken up early. It might actually help to be a little early for my first day of school here.

I crawled out of bed and over to my oh-so-wonderful window to seek out the source of my awakening, only to see who I assumed was one of the Salvatores, sitting in the driver's seat of the red porsche with the door hanging open. He seemed to be about my age and eye catching auburn-colored hair. Looking at how his hair was combed up and the way his upper torso was built, I figured this wasn't the boy who I saw last night at my window.

Suddenly there was a loud grunt and the boy jumped out of his car. I pressed my face to the window to see what the matter was, but my worry was unfounded. The boy slammed the car door shut, just as the front door to the house opened. Another boy appeared in the doorway. But based on the previous night's shadows, I still couldn't identify if this was the boy from last night. The boy who was in the car, whipped what looked like a can, at the boy standing in the doorway. I could hear laughter coming from the boy at the doorway, as the other boy approached him, giving him a shove.

Just before I was about to turn around, I saw the boy in the doorway straighten upright, and I could have sworn he looked right at me. His wave confirmed this, and I felt embarrassed to be caught looking in on their private family moment, but before I had the opportunity to hide myself like last time, he was distracted by something inside his house and disappeared from sight.

I giggled at the boy's silliness as I picked out some warm clothes to wear. I didn't bother trying to hide while changing again, knowing full well that now there was nobody there to see me. Afterwards, I made my way down into the kitchen to find Jeremy setting a plate of pancakes on the counter.

"Morning Jer," I yawned.

He took in my appearance. "Hungry? I tried making some pancakes." He asked with a smile in his eyes.

"Really?" I confirmed. At his nod, I continued. "Okay, I'll take some."

"Did your alarm wake you up?" He questioned, while pushing the plate of pancakes in front of me.

"Actually no. The boys across the street did. The...Salvatores?" I tried to pretend like I hadn't paid attention to what Bonnie said about them yesterday, hoping he'd say more about them. He glanced at me with a curious expression. "The one who drives the red porsche was starting his car and the other one was standing at the front door." I added, remembering the entire experience. I put some bread in the toaster.

"Yeah that would be Stefan, the one who woke you up by starting his car. He's your age; nice guy, does a lot of outdoors stuff, he might be in some of your classes today, you're both going to the community college. The other one is Damon. He's a little older than you. He's very-"

He was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. He looked over at me as a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Can you get that, Elena? I have to get to work."

I put down my toast and headed to the phone as Jeremy put his cooking dishes into the sink. My hand paused on the receiver as he spoke to me.

"Have a good first day, Elena."

"Thanks, Jer."

I turned away from him as I lifted the phone to my ear so he couldn't see the emotion on my face. Of course the phone would ring right when he was about to tell me about Damon; my apparent window buddy.

But my pessimism ceased when I discovered that it was another guy on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Elena! I was hoping to catch you before you left!"

Jeremy's smile made sense now.

"Matt? Hi! Yeah, you have good timing, I was just finishing up breakfast." I took another couple bites. I hadn't talked to Matt since I told him I just wanted to be friends before my parent's accident.

"That's good. I just wanted to make sure that you got a good start to your first full day here."

"Oh, yeah? How do you plan to do that?" I grinned at nothing in particular as I gobbled up the last of my toast.

"Well, you see, two nuns walk into a bar..."

I cut him off with my laughter.

"It's a good thing you stoppped me," he said,"because I didn't have a good ending for that joke."

I laughed even harder and he joined with me until we were breathless. I didn't remember Matt ever being like this before. So cheerful and full of excitment. I wondered if he was actually like this now, or if it was just because I was back in town

"Well, Matt, you accomplished your mission. But unfortunately, I have to finish getting ready for school now."

"Hey, no problem, I've got classes this afternoon. I guess I should've signed up for morning ones." He sounded slightly disappointed. Truthfully, I was too. "Hey Elena?"

I was surprisedd at the hesitant edge I heard in his voice. "Yeah, Matt?"

"Would it be okay if I called you sometime?"

I was confused. "You're calling me now."

"Yeah, to wish you good luck on your first day... What I mean is can I call you _without_ a reason? Just to talk to you, I mean... we havn't talkd since..." he trailed off at the end.

"Sure, you didn't have to ask! I'd love to hear from you."

"Good." I could hear the smile in his voice, and then the reluctance in his next sentence. "I guess I have to let you go now."

"Yeah... bye Matt. Hopefully I'll see you around."

"Bye Elena."

I hung up the phone with a smile still on my face, walked over to the living room couch and let myself slump into it, basking in the afterglow of the conversation. After a minute I felt someone's gaze on me. I looked up to see that Jeremy hadn't actually left yet, and he was smiling in at me through the gap in the front curtains. He was obviously pleased that Matt had called. Jeremy and Matt always did get along great when we were dating.

_Yup, definately getting better curtains... for the whole house..._

Then I went upstairs, brushed my teeth, and left for school.

I was extremely disappointed when I got there. It didn't have the feel of an institution at all: it was just several small buildings made of maroon-colored bricks, connected together by walkways. But at least the paths were paved—it would have been hell if they were made of dirt. This wasn't like a school at all. I had almost driven right past it, and would have, if I didn't see the small sign erected on the grass right next to the road proclaiming that this was in fact where the school was, as well as the setting of my impending doom.

I parked my car in the half-full parking lot. I pulled my hood over my head and hurried my way through the drizzle that had just started, as fast as possible, trying to avoid the looks I knew I was getting from my fellow classmates. I headed to the closest building, and with relief saw that there was a sign on the door, stating that it was the front office.

I had a slight flush on my cheeks as I opened the door and walked into the surprisingly warm room. There was an ugly orange-flecked carpet and the room was divided in half by a long wooden counter that stretched almost all the way across the room. There were padded fold-up chairs pressed against the three walls on this side of the counter. On the far side there was a red-haired lady, the secretary, I assumed, whose name was Ms. Gellar according to the name plate on her desk. I timidly approached the counter and waited for her to look up from whatever she was reading on her computer screen.

"Excuse me?" I asked after a moment.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, her sudden outburst almost causing me to topple over a large pile of papers in surprise. "My, dear, you startled me... what can I help you with, Miss...?"

"Gilbert. I'm supposed to be starting school here today and-"

"Oh!" she screamed again, and that time I _did_ send the papers flying. She waddled over and helped me to pick them all up. "I was wondering why I hadn't recgnized you, Elena."

"Yeah that's me," I said, blushing, as I stood, straightening the pile that I had demolished on the desktop, then looking down at my feet.

"Of course, my dear," she said absentmindedly, as she walked back around to her desk and began shuffling through some files. After a moment, she found what she was looking for and came over to me, guesturing for us to move closer to the center of the room divider; probably because there wasn't anything I could accidentally destroy there. She showed me my class schedule and a school map, along with a slip of paper for each of my teachers to sign to officially validate my transfer into the class.

"Now, remember to bring that slip back to me at the end of the day for our records," she said as she quickly highlighted the fastest way for me to get to each class on the map. The bell rang for class to start, and she shoved the papers into my hands and escorted me out the door. "That should be all you need, dear, but if you have any questions, you know where to find me, or I'm sure that one of your new classmates will be more than happy to help you out. Have a good day!" She waved me off as I sloshed through the now heavy downpour to my first class.

Building three wasn't very hard to find from Ms. Gellar's directions, which was a good thing as I was already late. When I entered the room, the whole class turned their heads to look at me; the teacher even had his mouth half open and he stopped in the middle of his sentence. I blushed crimson and thought, _Damn small towns,_ as I headed up to the front to hand over my slip to be signed. Mr. Miller, as my schedule said he was, recovered himself quickly, signed the little paper, and handed me a course syllabus and reading list before he directed me to an empty seat in the back of the class.

I walked towards it, forcing myself not to have a clumsy moment and trip, and focused my attention on my reading list rather than all the eyes that were staring at me. I knew this class would end up being easy—I'd read everything on the list at least once before. I looked up from the list with a satisfied look on my face, only to have it wiped away immmediately: everyone was still staring at me. They weren't even _trying_ to be subtle about it, so I looked back down and let my hair fall forward to cover my face from their piercing stares.

After much too long, my embarassment was put on hold and the bell rang. Everyone took their eyes off of me to pack up their stuff, which was quite refreshing. I had already put my things away and was about to take out my map to find my next class when I heard someone speak to me.

"You're Elena Gilbert, aren't you?" He had dark hair and was built like a football player, and once he spoke, everyone turned back around to face us again, causing my blush to return.

"Yeah," I replied. He looked really friendly and sort of like he belonged working out in a gym.

"Where's you're next class?" he asked.

I looked down at the schedule already in my hands and replied, "Goverment, with Green, in building six." All the eyes were starting to make me nervous.

"Well, my next class is in building four, so I could show you the way..." Yes, definately the friendly, overly-helpful type. "I'm Tyler." He held out his hand.

"Tyler," I said as I shook it. The name and face rang a bell, "Tyler Lockwood?"

"Yep that's me. Remember me from high school?" He asked with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I try not to think about it that much." He added quickly.

He led me around the school, and, as we made polite conversation. He walked me right up to the door, despite the fact that it was clearly marked, and I was quick to thank him and go inside before I was late for my second class in a row on my first day.

The rest of my morning went by without too much distress. My third period class was Trigonometry, with Mr. Varner. He was the only teacher who made me actually stand up in front of the class to introduce myself, reminding me of high school all over again, losing even more points for him in my book (the first several were lost just because of the horrendous subject he taught). Then I had Spanish right before lunch.

A girl named Caroline who was in my third and fourth period classes walked with me to the lunchroom and let me sit with her friends. I was friends with her in high school, but we weren't very close. Bonnie was there, whom I was surprised to see, along with Tyler, a blonde girl who kept giving me dirty looks, a blonde boy who sat on my left and kept smiling at me, along with a bunch of others. I was surprised to realize that this was the popular group I was sitting with.

I tried unsuccessfully to remember names besides the ones I already knew and follow along with the conversation; everyone talking to me at once was more than slightly disorientating. But then I heard the snobby blonde talking to another girl (while avoiding talking to me) say the name "Salvatore."

"The Salvatores?" I asked, directing my, and everyone else's attention, to her. "They're my neighbors... I think." I didn't want to sound so desperately interested in people I hadn't officially met yet.

"Yeah, I guess they would be," the blonde boy said, "but they didn't show up for morning classes this morning. Not a surprise for Damon. Stefan probably went hiking or volunteering at the local shelter."

"I saw Stefan heading out this morning, but I think Damon was messing with him."

"You _did?_ Those Salvatore boys sure are sexy, aren't they?" Caroline put in. Her eyes glazed over as she thought of those so-called 'sexy' boys.

The girls on the table all murmured their agreements, and the guys looked slightly annoyed. They all looked at me, waiting for my response.

"I don't know. I didn't get a good look at any of them," I said, looking away from them all and down to the table. "I just saw them bickering this morning."

"Yeah they always do that. Damon is always provoking Stefan. Hey, maybe you'll get to have them in one of your classes! Well, not Trig or Spanish, but maybe another one!" Caroline said, looking excited.

"Not in her English class," the blonde guy said.

I looked at him with confusion on written on my face.

"I'm in there with you," he said, looking disappointed that I hadn't noticed.

My face flushed. "I'm sorry," I said. "I promise I'll remember you tomorrow."

I tried my best to smile at him, and he grinned back and leaned closer to me."So, Bella, what classes do you have after lunch?"

I took the opportunity to move away from his sudden closeness by turning around in my seat to pick up my backpack and look for my schedule.

"I have Psychology with Mr. Snyder next, and Outdoor Ed with Coach Thomas last."

"We have Psychology together!" Bonnie said happily, speaking for the first time since I sat down. "And Damon Salvatore is in that class."

_'Great.' _I thought. Now I'd have to face him in person.

"_And_ I have Outdoor Ed with you!" Caroline seemed extremely excited about that prospect. "Damon and Stefan both take that class."

Just then the bell rang, Bonnie escorted me to Psychology. Bonnie walked me right up to the front of the class and introduced me to the teacher.

"This is Elena," she said, "She's new."

I quickly took a step toward the teacher and handed him my slip.

"Thank you, Bonnie, you may take your seat now," Mr. Snyder said. "Okay, Elena, here's your slip back, and a course syllabus. Your lab partner is late like usual, but there's no need to worry, since we won't be doing any projects that require two people today. Go on back to the empty desk there." He pointed to the back of the classroom.

I walked back, and stumbled over someone's bag on the floor, but managed to catch myself on a desk. I looked up and Bonnie whispered her apologies before moving the offending backpack under her seat and out of anyone else's way. I blushed and continued on my way.

_Your lab partner is late like usual... _I remembered Bonnie saying that Damon was in this class. I scanned the room casually and didn't catch sight of him. That must mean that he would be my partner. Caroline would be thrilled by that news, I'd bet. I sat down by myself and took out a pen and paper to take notes.

After about ten minutes went by, the classroom door flew open while my heart lurched when my brown eyes locked with a pair of blue ones.

**Hey guys I just want to thank those again who did review and thank everyone who added this story to their alerts or favorites. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. (:**


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